Like many old school call centers, TeleWorkers are required to sit in brick and mortar facilities, in cubicles, in neon lighting and for perhaps a dozen hours at a time. The Wall Street Journal reported a few months ago, the average call center employee duration is 90 days. It is reportedly one of the most dissatisfying jobs, with a supervisor leaning over your shoulder and taking note of your bathroom breaks.

VOIP technology has allowed for a tremendous shift in the call center industry, and for a correspondingly tremendous shift in the job of a call center employee. VOIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol – which means instead of the voice traveling over the phone line, it travels over the IP, Internet protocol. This means minimized long distance fees and greater bandwidth. It additionally means local phone numbers overseas and the ability for long distance remote workers to be, as if, local. It is what we see happening with so many advancing technologies, as Matthew McLuhan once spoke..

For the future of call center employees this means a whole new way of handling customer service and sales – from home. Companies like JetBlue, Staples, Virgin, just to name a few of the big players, have adopted this methodology. They have sent their workers home. This will allow for handicapped employees, stay at home mom’s and expatriates overseas to get jobs. Workers are thrilled to work in their pajamas.